Client-Side Rendering To Style Classic Sharepoint Date Fields

What is Client-Side Rendering for SharePoint Fields?

Client-side rendering (CSR) allows developers to customize the display and behavior of SharePoint fields and data without making changes to the underlying server-side code. CSR works by inserting JavaScript files that override the default field rendering on the page, executing after the page loads to dynamically apply styling, formatting, and interactivity.

Some key capabilities of SharePoint client-side rendering include:

Formatting text, numbers, and dates in fields
Customizing field layouts with HTML and CSS
Adding interactivity like show/hide behavior or cascading dropdowns
Connecting to external data sources through REST APIs
Bringing data from multiple sources into a single field display

Because all changes happen directly in the browser, CSR allows customizing SharePoint form and view displays without access permissions to change actual field definitions or impacting performances through server-side rendering. Client-side rendering helps web developers rapidly prototype and implement responsive, engaging field formats tailored specifically to business needs.

Table of Contents

Why Style Date Fields?

In their out-of-the-box state, SharePoint date fields are highly standardized but lack flexibility in display options. Default date field formats displayed to users may be unclear or inconsistent with other date presentations on a site. This hinders intuitiveness and usability.

Client-side rendering empowers developers to transform raw SharePoint date values into user-friendly, customized displays. More readable date formats aligned to region-specific conventions help reduce user confusion. Conditional date formatting improves scannability by highlighting dates relevant to their context on a page.

Styling date fields also enables better consistency in how dates are presented across different pages, apps, and view formats. This strengthens the visual brand and design system for the SharePoint environment rather than relying on the platform’s default, generic dates.

Limitations of Out-of-the-Box Date Formatting

SharePoint Online has over 100 possible date time formats available, but options are still constrained to combinations of the platform’s supported date components:

Weekday (Monday, Tue, etc.)
Month (January, Feb, etc.)
Day of month (1st, 2nd, etc.)
Year (2023, 23)
AM/PM marker
Time (09:00)

Admins can set a site-wide date format under Site Settings, but this applies globally. Even with regional settings, the out-of-the-box formats may not fulfill specialized date needs for individual sites, pages, or applications.

Another limitation is a lack of conditionals or variability for dates. Default SharePoint dates always display the full date value as-is. But designers may want to emphasize or deemphasize parts of dates depending on context — for example, showing just the time component for dates in the current week.

Using Client-Side Rendering for Custom Date Displays

Client-side rendering overrides allow for fine-grained control over date formats at the field or view level without impacting site-wide settings. Follow these steps to get started with CSR for SharePoint date styling:

Enable client-side rendering: In Site Settings > Site Collection Administration > Site Collection Features, activate Custom Script and SharePoint Framework Integration features.
Add formatting files: Upload JSON files defining custom field renderers to Site Assets library or host them externally. These will contain JavaScript/CSS/HTML to override default field rendering.
Connect renderers to list fields: Edit the list or library column to connect the new client-side renderer file under Column Formatting.
Test and troubleshoot formatting: Verify dates now display properly in forms and views. Check browser console for any errors.
Extend functionality: Enhance renderers by integrating additional data sources via REST API and adding interactivity with library like React.

Now date fields can implement specialized, dynamic formats while continuing to store clean data as standard SharePoint dates. At a high level, the JSON renderer pulls the raw date and passes it to a JavaScript date formatter, then inserts the HTML result into the page.

Sample Code for Common Date Formats

Some examples demonstrate client-side rendering techniques to transform SharePoint’s default dates into more user-friendly displays:

Regional Date Format

Show date aligned to common convention in specific country:

  let dateFormatter = new 
  Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-GB', {
     year: 'numeric', month: 'short', day: '2-digit'}
  ).format;

  return '<span>' + dateFormatter(new Date(dateValue)) + '</span>';

Displays date like 23 Feb 2023. Easily changed to different locales.

Relative Dates

Show friendly version for dates in the past week, otherwise show full date:

  let date = new Date(dateValue); 
  let displayDate;

  if(date > Date.now() - 7 * 24 * 3600000) {
    displayDate = date.toLocaleDateString('en-US', {weekday: 'long'}); 
  } else {
    displayDate = date.toLocaleString();
  }

  return '<span>' + displayDate + '</span>';

Now shows Thursday or 2/23/2023 depending on context.

Conditional Highlights

Apply color styling for dates that meet certain criteria:

let date = new Date(dateValue);

let cssClass; 
if(date > new Date()) {
  cssClass = 'sp-field-incoming';
} else if(date < new Date(2023, 0, 1)) { 
  cssClass = 'sp-field-old';
}

let formattedDate = 
  date.toLocaleDateString('en-US', {month:'long', day:'numeric'});

return `<span class="${cssClass}">${formattedDate}</span>`;

Upcoming dates highlighted green, old dates highlighted red. Custom CSS provides styling hooks.

Considerations for Cross-Browser Compatibility

A key benefit but also challenge of client-side rendered field formats is they rely on the browser DOM and JavaScript engine for implementation. This introduces variability in how formatting may display across different browsers, devices, and users.

Some techniques to maximize cross-browser compatibility include:

Progressive enhancement - Core field info still available if JavaScript errors
Feature detection – Check browser supports needed web APIs before execution
Graceful degradation – Simplify experience on lower-capability browsers
Polyfills – Shim in missing APIs needed by your code
Mobile-first – Design for constrained mobile viewports first before enhancing for desktop

Testing your solutions across a matrix of target browsers during development will help uncover rendering quirks. Having end users access web apps from one standardized browser can also mitigate some variability.

Additional Customization Options

Client-side rendering opens up many possibilities beyond date formatting to enrich SharePoint’s out-of-the-box interfaces. Other enhancements include:

Custom field types – Render completely custom field inputs like toggle switches or sliders
Third-party data – Incorporate external services into fields via REST API
Front-end framework integration – Leverage React, Angular, Vue.js and other frameworks
Advanced styling – Tap deeper CSS capabilities using SASS or CSS modules
Hosted models – Connect AI models for translating, sentiment analysis, etc.
Animations and media – Add graphics interactivity like sparklines

As requirements evolve, client-side rendering provides flexibility to customize SharePoint beyond what the platform delivers out-of-the-box. JS frameworks open the door to turn fields into feature-rich custom web components styled to match any branding needs.